Curtain-display cabinet.



M. DOWNEY.

CURTAIN DISPLAY GAI BINET. APPLICATION FILED MAY 23, 1905.

PATENTED MAR. 13' 1906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Wil'neooeo 36 12K 31 wanton No. 815 07s. PATENTBD MAR. 13 1906.

. M. DOWNBY.

CURTAIN DISPLAY CABINET.

APPLIUATION FILED MAY 23, 1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I Snow do: Z/raai/ 4' I afloznu Wi [means nets, of which the following is a specification.

invention removed from the casing.

UNITED STATES" PATENT. OFFICE. MARSHALL DOWNEY, OF HENRY, ILLINOIS.

CURTAIN-DISPLAY CABINET.

Specification of Letters Patent.

' Application filed May 23, 1905. Serial No. 261,833.

Patented March 13, 1906.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARSHALL DOWNEY, a citizen of the United States of America, ,residing at Henry,.in the county of Marshall and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Curtain-Display Cabi- Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a section and having a removable section-or cover 2 and a'hinged gravity-opening door 3 provided at its outer-freeedge with a slot or recess 4, said casing including in its organiv zation end members or heads 5, provided on s invention relates to' curtain-display their inner faces with upwardl -opening U- cabinets designed especially for use in stores shaped bearings 6 and attached to arms or to display lace curtains or the like, and has hangers7,in turn connected by cross-braces 8 for its objects to produce a simple inexpensive and pivotally suspended from a suitable overdevice ofthis character which in practice will v ead support. normally house the curtains to protect them ranged for rotation in the casing l and from dust, one omwhich the curtains may having end journals 9, seated in the bearings be readily fed for display, and one from which 6, is a'reel or drum 10, comprising heads 11 the curtains may be quickly removed when and longitudinally-extending diametricallycircumstances requir opposed plates or webs 12, terminating at A further object of theinvention is to protheir outeredges in right-angularly-disposed vide a device of this character, including a ro bearing members or plates 13, there being tary curtain-oarrying drum, whichwill be norcarried by each of the webs 12 adjacent to its mally locked against movement, one in which" inner edge a'plurality of retaining members the drum may be readily released and ma or pins 14, disposed at right angles to the surnipulated for winding or unwinding the curface plane of the web and tains, and one in which one of the drum-opgagement by the inner ends of spacing-sheets erating elements serves as a means for clos- 15, of anysuitable pliable material, arranged ing and locking the door of the casing in betweenthe adjacent faces of the curtains 16. closed position.

Pivoted to each of the webs at a point suit- A further object of the invention is to proably remote from its outer edge and respecvide a device ofthischaracter in which'the tively adjacent its opposite ends is a pair of drum is provided with clamping devicesfor clamping members 17, each consisting of a securing the curtains in place, one in which pair of sections or links 18 19, pivotally conthe clamping devices may be readily manected at 20 and normally maintained in ni ul'ated for releasing the curtains, and one clamping position by a spring 21, attached at wl ferein the drum will be balanced to permit one end to the adjacent Web and engaged at its ready manipulation. its other end with the link 18 at a point near With these and other objects in view the invention comprises the novel features of I construction and combination of parts more fully hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a front elevation of a device embodying the and showing the casing in closed position. Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the casing open and a curtain withdrawn for display. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the device with the parts in the osition shown in 1. Fig. 4 is a vertical cross-section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 4 4 of Fig. 1. Fig. 5 is a similar view taken on the line I 5 5 of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a front sectional elevation, the section being taken centrally and longitudinally through the casing- Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section, on an enlarged scale, taken on the line 7 7 of Fig. ,6. Fig. 8 is a front elevation of the curtain-receiving drum end of each link 19 a substantially semispherical bearing-head 22, it being noted in this 'connection that the clamping members 17, carried by one of the webs '12, extend to and bear upon the face of the next adjacent web, the heads 22 serving, in conjunction with the bearing plates 13, for removably clam the curtains 16 in position upon the drum. It may be mentioned in this connection that in order to release the members 17 are moved outward against the action ofsprings 21 until the heads 22 are operation the links 18 and 1 9 willbreak joint at their pivotal point 20, and, furthermore, that the separatingsheets 15 are permanently retained by the pins 14 to permit removal of the curtains without removing said sheets.

casing preferably. of octagonal form in cross' the pivot 20, there being provided on the free curtains the clamping free of the bearing members 13, during which Attached at one. end to and wound upon;

designed for enits ends attached in rotating the reel 10 at its other end in an engaging portion of flnger 24, designed to seat loosely in a clip 25, carried by the casing 1, the function of this spring being to balance the curtain-carrying reel and permit its ready manipulation,while at the other end of the drum 10 there is pro vided an auxiliary drum or spool 26, engaged by one end of a flexible operating element or cord 27, threaded through an opening 28 in the casing and adapted to hang within con' venient reach of the operator, there being provided at the lower end of the element a handle 29 and at a point suitably remote from the handle a stop 30 for a purpose which will presently appear. The cord 27, which is adapted to wind upon the spool 26, is arranged for travel upon a guide-roller 31, situated adjacent the opening 28, and is passed around and for travel upon a second guideroller 32, carried by one end of a brake member or lever 33, pivoted at a point adjacent its longitudinal center and adapted to normally drum-head 11, the brake being maintained in frictional engagement with said head by means of a spring 34, the tension of which may be regulated by a screw 35. It may be stated that as the cord 27 is wound upon the spool the stop 30, which is of greater size than the opening 28, will contact with the casing, and thus obviate liability of the entire cord being wound upon the spool.

Extended around the drum 10 at a point adjacent its longitudinal center is a flexible operating element or cord 36, having one of any suitable manner to one of the webs 12, said cord being adapted to pass through the opening 4 in the door and normally depend from the casing, there being provided on the cord a stop member or ball 37, situated at a point suitably remote from the free end of the cord, which is equipped with a handpiece 38. It is to be particularly noted in this connection that when the cord 36 is wound upon the reel it serves, owing to engagement of the stop 37 with the door 3, to maintain the latter in closed position.

In ractice the curtains are normally woun upon the reel 10 and housed within the casing, under which conditions the door 3 will be maintained in closed position by means of the cord 36 and its stop, as heretofore explained, while the cord 27 will be in unwound condition and will hang downward, as seen in Fig. 1, while the brake 33 will fric tionally engage the head 11 for holding the drum against rotation. Under these conditions the cord 36 will be wound upon the drum, and if it be desired to display the curtains the handpiece 38 is grasped and drawn downward, thereby releasing the door 3 and in a direction for unrollsiaovs ing the curtains and permitting them to hang downward through the opening in the casing, as illustrated in Fig. 2, while at the same time the cord 27 will be wound upon spool 26. When it is again desired to wind the curtains upon the reel, the handpiece 29 is grasped and drawn downward, thereby unwinding the cord 27 from spool 26 and at the same time winding the curtains and cord. 36 upon the reel, as will be readily understood, it being noted that as the cord 36 is wound it is drawn over into the slot 4, to thus carry the door 3 to closed position. As the cord 27 is unwound from the reel it will exert traction upon the free end of brake-lever 33 for releasing the bearing end of the latter from the head 11 to permit free rotation of the reel. The reel 10 may be readily removed from its casing to permit attachment of the curtains thereto by removing the section or cover 2 of the casing, it being understood that when the reel is removed from the casing the finger 24 of the balancing-spring will unseat readily from the clip 25.

bear'at its other end upon the adjacent From the foregoing it is apparent that I reduce a simple device admirably adapted for the attainment of the ends in view, it being understood that minor changes in the details herein set forth may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum journaled for rotation therein, a flexible operating element for rotating the drum in one direction, and a brake for the drum adapted for movement by said drumoperating element to release the drum.

2. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum journaled for rotation therein, flexible elements designed for rotating the drum in relative reverse directions, and a brake acting upon the drum for normally holding the same against movement, said brake being movable by one of the drum-op erating elements to release the drum.

3. In a device of the class described, a casing, a drum journaled for rotation therein, a

flexible element designed for rotating the drum in one direction, a pivoted brake member, and a spring for maintaining said member normally in engagement with the drum, said brake being movable by said drum-operating element to release the drum.

4. In a device of the class described, a casing having a hinged door designed to open by gravity, a drum journaled for rotation in the casing, an operating element for rotating the drum, and a stop' member carried by the ele ment for engagement with the door to main tain the same in closed position.

5. In a device of the class described, a casing having an opening, a drum rotatively mounted in the casing, means for detachably securing latter being designed to normally stand at rest with the sheets wound thereon and the sheets being adapted, when the drum is rotated in one direction, to pass outward through the opening for display, and manually-operated means for rotating the drum.

6. In a device of the class described, a 1'0- tary drum comprising in its organization a plurality of webs, means um, means for rotating the nected sections and a spring action onsaid '-sections for maintaining th'e member in clamping position.

7. In a device of the class described, a rotary drum, means for sustaining the same, a

pivoted brake member designedto normally engage the drum, said vided with a guide and a flexible operating element for rotating the drum in one direction, said element being arranged to travel on said guide and maintain the brake in nonmember being prosheets ofmaterial to the drum, the

for sustaining the latter, anda' clamping member connected with one of the webs and adapted to bear on a second web engagement with the drum of the latter by the element;

8. In a device of the class-described, a casing, a curtain -receiving drum rotatively mounted therein, retaining members carried by the drum for holding spacing-sheets entered. between the curtains, and clamping members for maintaining the curtains detachably in position upon the drum.

9. In a device of the class described, a casing, a curtain-receiving drum rotatively mounted therein, a pivoted brake member designed for engagement with the drum to secure the latter against movement, and a pair of flexible operating elements designed to be alternately wound upon the drum, one of elements being operatively engaged with and adapted to operate the brake to release the drum. t I

In testimony whereof I aihx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

, MARSHALL -DOWNEY during rotation Witnesses:

FRED W. POTTER, Rosn M. KRENZ.

in reverse directions sald drum-operat ng 

